How Outsourcing Can Help Your Small Business Grow
Jen Jordan brings a wealth of life and leadership experiences to her writing. After 10 years creating a variety of content for a nonprofit, Jen decided to establish her own writing business. She specializes in creating high quality blog and website content for small businesses. When she's not writing, Jen is a competitive triathlete with a goal of completing a triathlon in all 50 states.
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Outsourcing tasks like accounting, social media, HR, IT, and more can help small businesses grow by freeing up time and accessing expertise. Assess needs, set clear goals, and research providers for a cost-effective solution.
Your small business is growing, but not to the point of hiring another person, yet there are tasks you’d like to offload to prioritize other things. In situations like these, outsourcing becomes an attractive and affordable option. Outsourcing can allow you to grow your business without hiring additional personnel until you are ready. It can often be a short-or long-term and cost-effective solution. Assess and Identify Review all aspects of your small business. Identify the tasks that take up more of your time than you feel are good returns or might be better done by someone else. Some tasks may be ongoing, while others are one-time needs. Outsourcing options exist for almost any task, including design, marketing, sales, content writing, customer service, IT, accounting, and business planning. Identify how much time each task takes and the cost-including opportunity cost-of each. During this phase, you can evaluate the price of outsourcing this workstream. Common Areas for Outsourcing You can outsource any task for any reason. Savvy small business owners surround themselves with people who are more skilled in areas they don’t enjoy, don’t excel at, or don’t fit into their priorities matrix.
Expectations and Expense Be sure to set clear goals for any work you plan to outsource. A specific outline of your goals and expectations will help you obtain a precise cost estimate. Start researching outsourcing providers and their prices. Some businesses specialize in supplying consistent outsourcing and sites that connect your organization with individuals. Many of them have a database of potential candidates you can interview. Some common websites for outsourcing include:
Some companies offer tailored outsourcing services to help you grow from a startup and maneuver areas like branding, purchasing, navigating supply chains, and various banking tasks. Another factor to consider is whether you plan to outsource a workstream (like email newsletter design) for just a few emails or the long term. This will impact the cost and how you find the right person. Outsourcing is an effective strategy for small business owners to free time and energy to focus on growing their business rather than the "nitty gritty" details. While it might require some up-front investment, it can pay big dividends in the long term by reinforcing your business with the right experts to help you grow. Resources: https://www.fiverr.com/?source=top_nav https://99designs.com/categories https://smallbusiness.chron.com/list-tasks-running-small-business-21161.html https://www.uschamber.com/co/start/strategy/small-business-tasks-to-outsource https://www.sba.gov/blog/10-small-business-functions-can-be-easily-outsourced https://www.fortunebuilders.com/what-does-a-property-management-company-really-do/ |